


at the mercy of the light

by tamanone



Category: Gintama
Genre: Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Kitsune Gintoki, M/M, Youkai AU (sort of), ryujin Tatsuma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:01:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28178064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamanone/pseuds/tamanone
Summary: “I asked her about it—Uka-no-Mitama, that is,” Tatsuma starts after gulping down the lump in his throat, “she told me she used to have the exact same problem until she chased you out. You lied to me.”The kitsune’s lips stretch into a smirk, the perfect picture of a mischievous fox. It should vex him, but all it inspires in him is a feeling of thrill. His eyes can’t help focusing on slender fingers as each gets licked and cleaned, captivated to the point where he nearly misses the kitsune’s reply. “I’d say it’s your own fault for not knowing the difference between divine animals and youkai, Your Majesty.”or: the sea god falls for the fox spirit that has been stealing his offerings.
Relationships: Sakamoto Tatsuma/Sakata Gintoki
Comments: 12
Kudos: 44
Collections: Gintama Mini Secret Santa 2020





	at the mercy of the light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eighthousand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eighthousand/gifts).



> title taken from [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ms0tHiAVQw).
> 
> i'd like to preface this fic by saying i took some creative liberties with the details of the myths and folklores incorporated to better fit the story. all changes made are explained in the end notes.

Tatsuma watches, soundlessly, as the _kitsune_ takes a few more foods from the altar and onto a square piece of cloth on the floor before tying it up into a bundle. 

So this is the culprit behind the thievery that, according to his _suiko_ underlings, has been going on for some time now. Lately, more often than not, when they come into the shrine to collect offerings for the Sea God, they will find signs of disturbance. Empty plates and displaced equipment. They tried catching the offender by themselves at first, not wanting to bother their king, but the task proved to be more difficult than expected. Once or twice they caught a glimpse of the _kitsune_ leaving the place, but it’s always gone by the time they got there. So now Tatsuma decided to take matters into his own hand.

“You’re not one of Oo-Inari’s, are you?” He calls out as the other makes a move to leave. It has the intended effect, the _kitsune_ ’s head snapping towards his direction, eyes widening from behind the mask in recognition as Tatsuma stops suppressing his presence and it begins to fill up the space — dense and, though not oppressive, unmistakably godly. 

To the _kitsune_ ’s credit, his attitude doesn’t let up, even in the face of getting caught red-handed by the very owner of the shrine he’s currently stealing from. “And what if I say I am?”

“Well that’s a problem. I always thought my relationship with her was an amicable one, nothing that would warrant... this.” He gestures at the bag of stolen goods with one hand, “I’ve also never heard of Oo-Inari’s foxes having nine tails.”

The _kitsune_ shrugs. “Now you do.” He replies before leaping out the door and running back into the forest with an amazing speed, silver-white fur glinting in the sunlight.

*

The next time they meet, the _kitsune_ is leisurely stuffing his face with azuki mochi in the exact same spot as before, like he _wants_ to get caught, like he’s saying that the only reason they got him was because he offered himself up. With the mask out of the way, Tatsuma discovers that the only thing prettier than his silky, light-reflective hair might be his face.

“I asked her about it—Uka-no-Mitama, that is,” Tatsuma starts after gulping down the lump in his throat, “she told me she used to have the exact same problem until she chased you out. You lied to me.”

The _kitsune_ ’s lips stretch into a smirk, the perfect picture of a mischievous fox. It should vex him, but all it inspires in him is a feeling of thrill. His eyes can’t help focusing on slender fingers as each gets licked and cleaned, captivated to the point where he nearly misses the _kitsune_ ’s reply. “I’d say it’s your own fault for not knowing the difference between divine animals and _youkai_ , Your Majesty.”

“I admit I’m not very knowledgeable about the beings of the dryland. Us seafolks tend to keep to ourselves, you see, removed from the life above water.” Tatsuma admits with a slight pout.

“And is that why it took you two full moon cycles to investigate?” 

Tatsuma tilts his head, not understanding the question for a moment. “Oh! Time flows differently down there, as it lies beyond the reach of Amaterasu’s light. For me it’s only been two days since we saw each other.”

He goes to take a seat beside the _kitsune_ who, up close, only looks more beautiful. The light streaming in from the doorway behind them hits his hair just right, making it seem like he’s glowing. Like this, Tatsuma thinks the _kitsune_ wouldn’t seem out of place among other deities and heavenly beings.

“If I may ask, Oo-Watatsumi-sama,” the _kitsune_ speaks up after a bit of silence, “you and other famous gods like you, who own numerous shrines across the land, don’t you receive a mountain of offerings everyday? Do you even notice when some of it gets stolen?” he turns to look at Tatsuma, the smile he has on doesn’t reach his eyes, “Even for a dragon like you, can you honestly say that you finish them all? Or do you heavenly beings take pleasure in seeing them go to waste?”

Tatsuma blinks, processing the barrage of questions. “Yes, no, no, and no... I can only speak for myself, but I do share all that I receive with everyone who resides in my palace. I frankly have no qualms about sharing them with you either.” He pulls out a piece of cloth, not unlike the one the _kitsune_ used to hold the food last time, and spreads it out on the floor. Gently, he picks up the nearest offering—a dorayaki, given by a girl who wished for her brother’s safe journey to some foreign country. “However, the thing about offerings is that they contain prayers, and when a god comes into contact with it, the prayers resound within them. It reminds me of my duty, of the faith these humans have in me. I may not be able to tell if something has been stolen, but the thought of even one prayer going unheard does make me feel sad.”

Tatsuma continues to grab more food, taking a moment to listen to each message held within, before putting it in the makeshift carrier. Good weather, safe journey, bountiful harvest; those are the most common wishes, making up for more than ninety percent of all the prayers he has ever received (though he has never actually calculated it), but even after all this time, he’s not tired of it. The hopefulness and reverence with which the humans pray to him will never **not** move him. And he’s always looking forward to the next anomalous wish, whether it be for good exam results, success in love, or easy child delivery. 

The _kitsune_ has nothing to say to him, most likely mulling over what he’s done and its consequences, though Tatsuma honestly did not say it to make him feel guilty—he was unaware, and so Tatsuma shared his knowledge; it’s not that the system is a secret, just that those who know of it do not think about telling others unless prompted.

Once he thinks he’s put in enough food, he brings the ends of the cloth together, tying them in a simple but sturdy knot. Then, he slides the bundle over to the _kitsune_ , and asks him, softly, “so would it be fine with you if I hand the food over after my retainers brought them to me?”

“How could I say no to that,” He replies, voice small. He still hasn’t reached for the bag. “I wasn’t even expecting anything but your fury when I came here.”

“Oo-Inari would’ve done the same, I think, had you sit down and talk with her like you’re doing with me now.” Tatsuma doesn’t tell him about how before this he’s been stuck in a cycle for the longest time. The love he has for his work doesn’t erase that fact that everyday he goes through the exact same routine, over and over again, until this case disrupts it. Tatsuma was never angry with him.

The _kitsune_ gives him a wry smile, but stays quiet otherwise, leaving Tatsuma to wonder by himself what the smile meant.

*

It’s been some time since then. The deal proves to be successful, a win for both parties. The duty of dropping off the food falls, expectedly, on those same _suiko_ s who are in charge of offerings, but oftentimes, when he manages to finish his work early, Tatsuma would volunteer (his attendants would describe it more as ‘insist’, but never mind that,) to do it himself. Like today.

“How did you gain nine tails, Kintoki? Or did you always have nine?” He asks while munching on a manju.

After the usual pattern of _it’s_ Gin _-toki, how many times do I have to tell you—_ and _ahahahahaha, that’s what I said though!_ (which, for the record, of course Tatsuma knows it’s Gin and not Kin, but he always huffs and puffs in the cutest way when Tatsuma says it wrong, and that just spurs him to do it even more,) Gintoki replies, “In my earliest memory, I already have two. The rest grew with the help of Sho—my old teacher.” He pauses, eyes going glossy momentarily before clearing up again, “Anyway, he deduced I’m likely to be the child of Tamamo-no-Mae.”

He studies Gintoki’s face while he turns over the name in his mind. If he’s not mistaken, it should be the famous imperial concubine. “Oh, yes, I can see it.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Gintoki bristles, clearly offended for reasons unfathomable to Tatsuma, like he wasn’t the one who brought her up first.

“I mean,” Tatsuma pushes through, “she was said to be an extravagant beauty, was she not? I think you are very beautiful yourself. If you really are her child then I’d say you live up to her reputation.”

Gintoki blinks once, twice, before turning away from him. He doesn’t reply and leaves Tatsuma’s explanation hanging in the air. The deafening sound of cicadas fill up their silence.

“...Kintoki?” Tatsuma calls out after some moments. Gintoki nearly jumps at the voice, and then goes to actually jump into a standing position. 

“It’ll get dark soon. I need to go home.”

The lack of complaints about the name says it all. Tatsuma can only stare at Gintoki’s back as he runs into the forest, bemused. 

Has he... said something wrong?

*

“I’d like to apologize.” Tatsuma announces in lieu of a greeting the next time he has time to hand the food to Gintoki himself.

“What for?” Gintoki replies, eyes everywhere but on him.

“I asked around and found out that Tamamo-no-Mae was perceived to be evil. That really wasn’t what I was implying when I said I can see the similarities between you and her.”

“It’s fine, you already made it clear what you were implying then.” Gintoki murmurs, eyes trained on the bag like he’s trying to drill holes into it.

Frustrated out of his mind, Tatsuma turns to his last resort, taking the item out of his _sagemono_ and presenting it unceremoniously in front of Gintoki.

Glancing at his hand, but still not facing him properly, Gintoki asks, “What’s that?” 

Tatsuma knows he’s not asking that literally, as anyone can see that it’s a necklace with a pearl pendant, which he picked out of his personal collection because the white-silver-blue shift of the pearl will match Gintoki’s hair nicely. “Peace offering.” 

Gintoki pushes away his hand without any real force behind it. “There’s no need for such things. I’m not angry.”

“But you won’t even look at me.” Tatsuma’s voice is bordering on whining now.

He hears Gintoki tsks before turning to him at last. “Fine, I’m looking at you now. Satisfied?” 

He stares at Gintoki for a moment before leaning closer and reaching out with his free hand to touch Gintoki’s red, _red_ face. “...Are you feeling unwell, Kintoki?” he asks, which seems to be the wrong response because the color only becomes darker under his touch. 

Gintoki, after a moment, bats his hand away with a splutter. “Do you have no concept of personal space?!”

Tatsuma straightens up, and goes back to shoving the necklace onto Gintoki’s face. “Then take this. I had it made for you. It’s yours.”

“Stop- okay, I get it, I’ll take it, just—” Gintoki snatches the necklace, huffing, “Who am I to turn down presents from a deity, right, Your Majesty?”

*

Somewhere along the line he finds out that Gintoki doesn’t live alone, and that the reason he needs so much food in the first place is because he had two other mouths to feed.

Tatsuma, initially, starts freaking out at the thought of Gintoki having a mate and biological kids, because the idea never crossed his mind and he’s not prepared to — to what, exactly, he’s not even sure — but Gintoki quickly dispels the misunderstanding by telling him, insistently, that they’re just strays who flocked to him, for some reason, and now it’s too late to kick them out.

He gets to meet them today. Two young cat _youkai_ s: the male one with black hair is Shinpachi, the female one with peach-colored hair is Kagura. Shinpachi is the taller of the two, even though compared to Tatsuma they both look tiny. Tatsuma has decided that he loves them already.

“How adorable,” he remarks, “so the two of you are siblings?”

Kagura retorts immediately, “Wow, he is as stupid as you said, Gin-chan. Is this really the guy you li—” her voice gets cut off by Shinpachi covering her mouth and Gintoki slapping the back of her head.

“Please forgive her, Oo-Watatsumi-sama,” Shinpachi says, “But, no, we’re not related.”

“Ehh? Even though you’re both cat _youkai_ s?” Tatsuma asks, head tilting slightly in confusion.

Shinpachi then proceeds to explain to him the difference between a _bakeneko_ and a _nekomata_ , and that to identify them Tatsuma needs to look no further than their tails. Indeed, Shinpachi has only one abnormally long tail, while Kagura has two normal sized tails.

Tatsuma suggests they go fishing, he knows a good spot to catch a lot of horse mackerel and skipjack tuna, and while Gintoki and he are in the water, Kagura and Shinpachi can get the fire started. However it turns out that Gintoki cannot, for the life of him, swim, so Tatsuma has to do twice the work, but he doesn’t mind it much.

It’s been a while since Tatsuma cooks for himself, so it takes them a few tries to figure out the best amount of time to roast the fish. Tatsuma takes all the over- and under-cooked ones, letting Gintoki and the youngsters have the ones that are well-done. They didn’t have any seasoning on hand, but the freshness does give it a nice subtle sweet edge.

They part as the sun starts to set. Tatsuma returns home with his stomach and heart full.

*

Tatsuma goes back to being swamped with work, until one day one of the _suiko_ returns from his shift of picking up offerings with two little cat _youkai_ clinging to each of his legs. 

“Perm God-sama!” “Oo-Watatsumi-sama!”

Both run to clutch at Tatsuma’s kimono instead once the disorientation dissipates and they notice him, face blotchy red from crying. “Help... please help...”

Tatsuma pats their heads with his hands as gently as possible, making shushing noises in a way that he hopes come off as comforting. “Don’t cry, of course I’ll help, just tell me what happened.”

His blood runs cold when the two calm down enough to answer him. They seem to be giving him more information about what happened, but Tatsuma couldn’t pay attention; his vision, his hearing, his thoughts—everything keeps drifting in and out of focus as his mind conjures up the image of a wounded gintoki. He calls over an attendant, an _iso onna_ , who happens to be passing by before shoving both kittens onto her, telling her to tend to their needs while he visits the mortal realm.

*

The two said Gintoki passed out near their house. Said house is an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods that most likely used to belong to a family of humans, since it has two bedrooms. 

Tatsuma has only been there once, and without anyone to guide him there, it takes a bit of effort for him to find. 

Gintoki’s injuries aren’t as bad as he dreaded, and the bleeding seems to have stopped completely, but it’s still not _good_. Tatsuma also now understands why Kagura and Shinpachi didn’t just take him with them, as Gintoki’s true fox form is huge, too big for two cats to lift up and move. He reckons that even on four legs, the top of Gintoki’s head would reach his chin.

First order of business is to clean the wounds. Unfortunately, the house does not have its own well, and it’s quite the walk from his shrine.

 _Wait_ , he thinks to himself, _if there’s no well then there should be a natural water source nearby._

He looks around and, for the first time, notices a familiar landmark. He gathers Gintoki in his arms, and runs as fast as he can in the direction of the river where his best friend dwells.

*

“Do you have to do this here?” Shinsuke grumbles from his favorite boulder to perch on (Tatsuma likes to refer to it aloud as Shinsuke’s Own Little Throne, which would then immediately result in the _mizuchi_ throwing anything within his reach at Tatsuma’s head.)

“I can’t clean his wounds with saltwater,” Tatsuma replies without looking up. He continues to wipe them with his _haori_ that’s been soaked in the river. In his panicked state, he had come unprepared, but at least he can minimize the risk of infection. “Plus this place was nearby.”

After the last wound—the round, abraded looking one on his stomach area—has been cleaned, and the dampened _haori_ turned into a makeshift cold compress for Gintoki’s fever, he can finally take care of the smaller things, like cleaning blood splatters off the fur on areas that aren’t harmed. It’s only then that he caught sight of the necklace snug around Gintoki’s neck, and only because the grey chain he chose for it looks dark and dull against the coat of silver-white. 

“So you decided to bring the filthy creature to my home instead and pollute it with his blood?” Shinsuke’s tail flaps around instinctively in accordance with his growing irritation, smacking against the water surface and sending droplets everywhere, snapping Tatsuma out of his daze, “I don’t care if you choose to court some lowly _youkai_ from the dryland, but at least have the decency to be mindful about where you’re doing it.”

Tatsuma should be offended by the way Shinsuke talks about Gintoki, but his attention is stuck on a single word. “Court...?” he whispers, thoughtful, heart and mind blooming at the idea, before exclaiming, “That’s right, I should court him!”

Shinsuke frowns. “Was that not what you’re—” he pauses, sighs, and takes a drag from his _kiseru_ , “never mind, nothing good will come out of asking you.”

*

He brings Gintoki to his palace as well, afterwards, dropping him off at the infirmary to be treated by his healers before checking on the youngsters. Both stand up when he enters, looking like they’re expecting grave news, and Tatsuma has to reassure them repeatedly Gintoki is alive and well, and that they can go see him once they’re done with their meals. 

He takes a seat opposite them on the table, watching them gulf down food and piling up empty plates, fondness in his heart. He should send them more food from now on, he decides. He wouldn’t want these growing kittens to receive insufficient nutrients, after all.

*

When one of the attendants inform him that Gintoki has regained consciousness, the two practically run out of the room, and probably would’ve dogpiled Gintoki on the infirmary bed if the palace’s head healer wasn’t someone with a glare that could kill. Tatsuma laughs and ruffles the kids’ hairs, sheepish at the knowledge that he wanted to do the same thing.

Tatsuma offers the three of them individual rooms, but then Kagura and Shinpachi shyly admit that they want to stay in one room with Gintoki. So he gives them the biggest guest room he got, only second in size and luxury to his own personal bedroom. It’s also located in the eastern wing, where cherry blossoms are always in full bloom just outside their window. 

He’s sitting with Gintoki by that same window now, a flask of sake and two cups between them. Occasionally the spring breeze will carry some petals into the room. Then one of said petals lands on Gintoki’s hair, and when Tatsuma reaches out to help him remove it, he has to actively restrain his hand from sliding down to cup Gintoki’s cheek, mindful of his reaction the last time Tatsuma did so.

He asks about the injuries because he couldn’t help himself. Gintoki is far from weak, his nine tails are proof of it, so Tatsuma finds it hard to even imagine what could’ve caused it.

It takes a bit of prodding, Gintoki keeps saying it’s stupid and he’d rather not talk about it, but Tatsuma wants to know. He _needs_ to know. The other eventually relents, perhaps tired of Tatsuma’s persistence. 

Gintoki reluctantly starts his story: some _youkai_ s asked him to scare off a couple of humans that have been causing disturbances hunting birds in the forest. He thought it’d be an easy job, but none of them mentioned the humans having a _gun_ and a _crossbow_ (Tatsuma intends to wait until Gintoki is done to ask what a “gun” and “crossbow” even are, but the cluelessness must’ve been apparent on his face because Gintoki takes one look at him and halts the recount to describe them to him,) which caught him off guard and ultimately sealed his fate.

Gintoki managed to get away before they shot any of his vitals, but removing the bullet on his own and forcing his self-healing power to work at maximum speed consumed so much of his energy that he collapsed.

“Still, I find it hard to believe someone like you could lose against humans, even if...” he stops when Gintoki subtly flinches at his words, some things finally falling into place, “no... it’s because you chose not to fight back, isn’t it.”

“Oh, how curious, the philanthropic Watatsumi-sama thinks I should’ve fought back?” Gintoki sneers. 

“Even I would understand if it’s in self-defense.” As much as Tatsuma loves humans, loves serving them and being relied upon by them, he’s not blind to the harm they can cause, nor to the atrocities they _have_ committed. “So why didn’t you, Gintoki?”

“I _can’t_.” Gintoki snaps, “Before- oh before I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but now... If I fight back, and hurt those humans — they would no doubt return with more of their peers to hunt me down, and that’s a danger I do not want to bring anywhere near my little ones.”

That stuns him into silence. A reality check of his privileges; as a god and a seafolk, Tatsuma has never had to even worry about the _possibility_ of a human trespassing into his territory. 

_Gintoki and his kids wouldn’t have to worry about it too, if the two of them were to marry,_ Tatsuma finds himself thinking. _That would make Ryugujou a place that belongs to Gintoki as much as it is Tatsuma’s_.

On the other hand, Gintoki seems ashamed of his little outburst, “I’m sorry, it’s been a long day and...”

“No, of course, I understand.” Tatsuma takes it as his cue to leave, “I should let you rest some more.”

“Watatsumi-sama—” 

He must’ve been tipsier than he thought, because before he could think better of it, he cuts Gintoki off with— “Tatsuma.”

“Pardon?”

“Watatsumi, Ryuujin, Umigami... They’re all titles bestowed upon me by the humans when I was deified. The name I was born with, however, is Tatsuma. You can call me by that name, if you want.”

From the look on Gintoki’s face, he seems to understand the gravity of it, “Well then, good night, Tatsuma.”

Somehow, hearing Gintoki say his name gives him a feeling not unlike downing a shot of liquor — wonderfully intoxicating. As he slides the doors closed, the last thing he sees is Gintoki surrounded by a blur of white and soft pink. And later he dreams of falling asleep to that stunning sight every night, for the rest of his eternal life.

*

With the salve made by his healers and Gintoki’s innate supernatural power, the wounds have all nearly healed come morning. After breakfast, his three guests take their time to roam around the palace, amazed by the capability to experience all four seasons within one day just like every first-time guest that has come before them. Tatsuma, drowning in his duties (he did take half the day off yesterday,) only joins them at mealtimes and at the end of the day for a short talk before they all go to bed. He is filled with regrets, however, after hearing their stories and anecdotes about all the fun they were up to all day.

*

He works hard to finish early the next day, managing to have enough time for a round of snowball fight with the three at the northern courtyard before dinner. He gets paired with Kagura as they’re respectively the tallest and shortest to “even out the height average,” according to Gintoki.

They end up winning, mostly thanks to Kagura’s astonishingly swift and scarily accurate throws.

Tatsuma hasn’t been this happy in a long time. As in, personally and intimately happy, removed from his status as a deity and a king. 

He wants to feel like this, always.

He wants to court Gintoki as soon as possible.

*

All good things must come to an end. Once Gintoki’s wounds are fully healed, he tells Tatsuma they’ve overstayed their welcome. _Three months are surely enough to get the humans off his scent,_ he says.

Tatsuma is disinclined to let him go, but he also has no right to force him to stay.

“Gintoki, may we exchange written correspondence from now on?” He asks just before he sends them back above water.

“Uh, sure,” Gintoki readjusts the two bags of food in his arms, “just, how...?”

“You can leave and retrieve the letters in the shrine,” Tatsuma replies, “or if you meet any of the _suiko_ s.”

Gintoki raises an eyebrow, “You’re not scared that I’d start stealing your offerings again?”

“I have faith that our relationship has progressed past the stage where you feel the need to steal from me.” Tatsuma says easily.

Gintoki blinks in surprise, but has nothing to say to that.

*

Tatsuma starts his first letter with small talks, asking Gintoki what he and the youngsters have been up to since they last saw each other. It may have only been a couple of days for Tatsuma, but nearly two moon cycles have passed in the mortal world. Tatsuma wonders if Gintoki ever laments the time difference between their realms. But even for Tatsuma, who gets the longer end of the stick, every day that Gintoki’s not by his side feels as long as a full moon cycle. 

In the second round of letters he asks about Gintoki’s favorites, from food (“anything sweet, and especially anything with chocolate”), drinks (strawberry-flavored milk and _sake_ ), color (“white, blue, maybe red, too”), season (Winter), and a number of other things. 

He starts to wonder how long he’s supposed to be doing this for after the third letter. There didn’t seem to be a set amount of time mentioned anywhere when he was researching the custom, only that it needs to happen over a long period of it, so both parties are certain of their feelings; but Tatsuma has been certain about his feelings for Gintoki pretty much since the second time they met, and the longer he waits the longer Gintoki stays available for someone else to woo him. 

He asks Gintoki to meet him in the next letter.

*

The second part of the custom, at least, is much more clear-cut: three nighttime meetings and the two individuals will be considered married. Or at least agreed to marry. Either way.

They promised to meet at the edge of the forest. Tatsuma arrives first because Gintoki has to wait for the kittens to go to bed.

“Did something happen in your kingdom?” Gintoki asks, seemingly out of nowhere, “Or do you always just get busy this time of the year?”

Tatsuma tilts his head slightly, “No to both? Everything’s just as usual.” 

“Oh, all right then.” Gintoki says, cryptic. Tatsuma gets a nagging feeling that he’s missing something.

“Why do you ask?” He prompts, but Gintoki just dismisses it.

“I did get summoned to Takamagahara the other day.” Tatsuma starts after some silence.

Gintoki chuckles at the topic, “Did you now?”

Tatsuma hums, “One of the minor gods did something, I think, and they wanted opinion from a neutral third party.”

“What did they do?”

Tatsuma tries to think for all of five seconds before replying, “I don’t remember.”

“ _Hah?_ ” Gintoki lets out an incredulous laugh, “Do your work properly, oi.”

And that’s how they spend the night — walking along the shore talking about nothing and everything. 

He tells Gintoki their next meeting will be exactly one month from now as they part.

*

On their second rendezvous, he shows Gintoki his true dragon form. Tatsuma’s taller than him even in humanoid form, but now he towers over him. As a full-grown dragon, his length from head to tail spans over one _chou_ , with red scales that look more scarlet in the pale moonlight. 

As it is late Autumn in the mortal realm, mere days from shifting into Winter, the night is cold and foggy, providing the perfect environment for them to fly with little chances of being spotted by humans. Tatsuma takes Gintoki up to the sky, as close to Heaven’s territory as they could get without actually entering it.

Gintoki doesn’t fly. Or at least he doesn’t fly like Tatsuma does; he leaps from cloud to cloud, while Tatsuma as a dragon has the innate ability to glide on empty air. He helps Gintoki experience flying the way he does by letting Gintoki sit on his back. 

At some point, Gintoki puts his hands in Tatsuma’s hair, and when he accidentally pulls on it Tatsuma nearly nosedives into the ocean.

Keyword nearly.

*

And then, it’s finally the third night. 

When he spots Gintoki on the shore, his heart overflows with elation, and before he knows it he’s running towards the other and proceeds to hug him to the point where Gintoki’s feet are no longer touching the ground.

“Thank you, Gintoki, for agreeing to this.” He says with his nose buried in Gintoki’s beautiful silver hair, “Oh, I’m truly overjoyed. I promise to make you happy, make sure you’d never want for anything, shower you in riches—”

Gintoki squirms, and Tatsuma realizes his embrace might’ve been too tight, so he loosens it enough for them to see each other face to face. “What are you on about?” Gintoki asks with a furrow between his eyebrows.

“I’m giving you my vows.” He answers, his smile still wide enough to almost reach his ears.

But the frown on Gintoki’s face doesn’t let up. “Vows?”

“For our marriage.” He explains patiently. 

A beat, and then, “ _Marriage?_ ” Gintoki breaks free out of his embrace, face unreadable. “What are you talking about? I never agreed to any marriage proposals. I never even _received_ any marriage proposals.”

Now Tatsuma is the one confused. “Yes you did,” he replies, “the letters? And our meetings?”

“What do you...” then Gintoki’s expression becomes lax, but still not exactly _happy_ , as one should be on their engagement day, “oh Heavens.”

It is then that Tatsuma gets the clue that something might not be right. “Gintoki...?”

“Tatsuma, were you trying to court me with a custom that went out of style nearly a thousand mortal years ago?” 

Tatsuma stills. _A thousand years ago?_

The wonderful, euphoric feelings within him quickly withers away, leaving nothing but an acrid taste in his mouth. One moment he was up in the clouds, and the next he was crashing onto the ground. His body only now registering the near-zero temperature and the freezing wind. 

“So you didn’t...” _feel the love I poured into each of my letters? Come to see me each night with the intention of reciprocating it?_

Gintoki is shaking his head, but Tatsuma can’t quite make out what expression he has on. Why can’t he see his expression? Why is his vision... blurry...?

“Oh,” he softly exclaims at the same time as he hears Gintoki call out his name. He turns away before his face decides to show Gintoki a sight unbecoming of a king and a god. “How—” _painful, humiliating,_ “—awkward. My apologies, Gintoki, but I must ask you to excuse me—”

“Wait,” Tatsuma feels more than sees Gintoki grabbing him by the wrist, “No, Tatsuma, look at me.” 

Even when heartbroken Tatsuma cannot resist the _kitsune_ , and so he does as he’s told, turning back to face him even though he wants nothing but to pull away and run. Curiously, it’s Gintoki who isn’t looking at him, eyes casted down like the sand underneath them is the most interesting thing in the world.

Gintoki continues to speak through bitten lips, “You took me by surprise, is all. I didn’t come here tonight with a wedding in mind, but... if you were to ask me properly, I...” he pauses, Tatsuma waits with bated breath, “...I would not say no.”

His heart is bursting with a lot of emotions at once—confusion, delight, exasperation, doubt—that he’s dizzy from it.

“You’re not just saying that out of pity?” Tatsuma whimpers. 

“You’re a deity who lives in a magical palace, I don’t feel a shred of pity for you.” Gintoki deadpans, and it’s so _normal_ of him, _finally_ , that it pulls a laugh out of Tatsuma. Gintoki appears confused by his reaction at first, but eventually joins in with a smile. 

His laughter dies down, and he at last pulls his arm out of Gintoki’s hold so he can lace their fingers together instead. 

“Gintoki,” his other hand comes up to cup Gintoki’s cheek. This time, the other doesn’t shy away from the touch. Gintoki’s eyelids flutter, closing then opening, and his lips part ever so slightly to let out a quiet sigh. Tatsuma has to gulp down the lump in his throat before continuing, “may I have your hand in marriage?”

Gintoki nods, and Tatsuma, despite knowing the answer beforehand, practically sobs in relief. He brings their faces together, forehead to forehead, nose to nose, nuzzling gently. A dragon’s kiss. Then Gintoki leans up and brings their lips together. A human’s kiss, as well as those who are often involved with them like a _kitsune_.

*

On a Summer afternoon the following year, soft rain falls all over the region despite the sun being out and bright. Parents, and especially grandparents, will tell the children to stay indoor, for the _kitsune_ s are holding a wedding procession.

However, those who do manage to stumble upon it will say that it’s not just _kitsune_ — it’s all sorts of _youkai_ s, and about half the crowd is made up of those aquatic in nature. The ones lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds will say one of them has a tail that’s covered in scales instead of fur, nor does its ears look anything like a fox’s. One thing is for sure, though, and it’s that the couple look at each other with so much love and happiness.

**Author's Note:**

> -watatsumi is one of the gods birthed by izanami, but in this fic i made it so he was a dragon who underwent deification after he helped humans multiple times and accidentally gathered a following  
> -in the traditional folklores, a day in ryugujou equals a hundred years on land or even more, i shrunk the time difference significantly to fit the story i have in mind  
> -the offerings-prayers system is an original concept by me  
> -the concept of gods' shrines being connected to their residence & said gods being able to 'teleport' between the two places is taken from noragami (though in noragami it's presumably only connected to takamagahara)  
> -watatsumi is a water deity, meaning he doesn't only watch over the ocean, but all natural bodies of water. that's too big of an area though, so tatsuma has deputies stationed in rivers and lakes to rule in his stead, one of them being takasugi who is his childhood friend in this fic  
> -1 chou = approx. 109 meters / 358 feet  
> -i hc that tatsuma was deified circa 712 CE, as that's when the earliest written source mentioning watatsumi was from, which brings us to our next point  
> -the courting custom tatsuma did for gintoki came from the heian period (794-1185 CE), and as established in the fic, tatsuma is very much not up to date with... basically everything happening above water, so he thinks it's still the norm  
> -that "dragon's kiss" thing is made up. i'm literally just thinking about that scene from spirited away
> 
> lastly, here's my [twitter](https://twitter.com/tatsvma), [cc](https://curiouscat.me/tatsvma), and [tumblr](https://tamanone.tumblr.com/), come hmu!


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